TJ Michaels

Today’s subject is appropriate for Halloween: Horror and Scary Scene. Enjoy this excerpt from one of my favorite books from the Vampire Council of Ethics series. Be sure to check out the links to all of the other fourteen authors participating in this week’s spooktacular Snippet Saturday!

EXCERPT from CARINIAN’S SEEKER
Vampire Council of Ethics Book 1
By TJ Michaels
Copyright 2007 Samhain Publishing, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

Carin’s eyes filled with tears and a strange melancholy stole over her like she’d never be back here again. She missed her house already and she hadn’t even gone anywhere yet. Oh for goodness sake, she grumbled to herself. Emotionally attached to a building? Yep, she definitely needed to get out more.

Shaking off the strange weight settling on her shoulders, Carin pulled on her sneakers and slipped her house key into her pants pocket. She grabbed the duffel, stuffed her purse inside it and snatched up the directions Bix had left for her on the coffee table. With one final look around, she stepped into the balmy night and shivered. It wasn’t particularly cold out but the army of goose bumps marching over her arms wriggled under her skin and left a marked chill behind. Carin stepped back inside to grab a light down jacket anyway. It was time to go. Arms tucked into the sleeves of her coat, she slid the deadbolt home and didn’t look back.

Clouds had drifted over the moon. A chill wind rose and sent a small torrent of dried leaves across the lawn. It felt like a storm was coming.

Her sneakers made no sound as she trotted down the steps and made a beeline for her car parked in the driveway. She clicked the unlock button on her car key fob, then looked warily up at the streetlamps illuminating her driveway and half of her block. Only…they weren’t illuminating. Every single one of them was out and it was pitch black in front of her house. The hairs on the back of her neck danced wildly. Someone was out here. Her fingers had just tightened on the handle of the unlocked car door when a big hand shot out and struck her on the side of the head.

She went down in a heap and landed with a harsh thud flat on her stomach. It knocked the wind from her lungs but she wasn’t out. Not by a long shot. Nobody got away with cold cocking her in the side of the head. She felt something both icy and hot rush across her back, but she ignored it and rolled over to face her assailant.

A strange face with a malevolent grin loomed over hers. A fanged grin? What the hell?

The stranger lowered his mouth to her neck. A gag caught in her throat from just a whiff of his rancid breath. Yuck! It reminded her of old rotting pork. She tried to use her arms to push him back and stretch away from him, but he was too strong. Fine, she might not be a vampire, but she was no weakling. She bent her knees and pulled her legs close to her chest, creating an effective barrier between her and fang boy. Kicking with all her might, her legs sent the man flying backward. He landed in the rose bushes lining the side of the driveway. Thankful she lifted heavy weights frequently, she rolled to her knees and was on her feet in a boxing stance, ready to get it on.

Three men approached out of the darkness. One of them she recognized.

“Aleth? What the hell is going on?”

“Hello, Dr. Carinian,” Aleth Sidheon droned, sounding bored with the whole business. “These are some friends of mine. It appears you’ve been snooping into other people’s research. We can’t have that, now can we?”

Her back was on fire where something wet seeped through her jacket. Her knees trembled as she fought for consciousness, but she had to know
what this was all about.

“Snooping into what?” she asked with much more gumption than she felt. The two men flanked her now, and the one she’d kicked into the rose bush made his way back to their little party with several thorns sticking out of his face. He didn’t look happy at all. They were all armed with wicked-looking bowie knives, moving around her until they formed a perfect circle.

How the hell had Sidheon figured out she’d nicked some of his specimens? She cleared her mind and thoughts—Bix had told her she projected too much—and concentrated on finding a way out of this mess. Better yet, maybe if she screamed Bix’s name loud enough in her head he would hear her somehow.

“We didn’t mean to frighten you, Doctor. After all, death is nothing to be afraid of,” Sidheon said with a chilling, long-toothed smile. So, her reasoning that Bix was after the good Dr. Aleth Sidheon because he was a vampire had been correct. So not good. “Besides, I have some fun planned for us first.”

She laughed outright. Not a cute little chuckle, but a good belly buster of a laugh. As much as her vision began to swim, she just couldn’t seem to stop. When she finally caught her breath, she gathered a fat wad of spit in her mouth and let it fly. Damn, he dodged it. And now he was pissed. She could feel the anger radiating off him.

With a signal from Sidheon, Fang Boy lunged in synch with the other two. She was grabbed from behind and felt the tender skin of her neck ripped open from her chin down to her collarbone. But that pain was nothing compared to the continual blows to her face and body, pummeling her, rocking her until she tasted her own coppery metallic blood as it pooled in her mouth. She tried to kick out at the man directly in front of her, tried to get away from at least one set of hands ravaging her body. But her arms were wrenched behind her back and pulled tight until she thought her elbows would meet. Silver blades flashed in the moonlight and a fresh agonizing burn radiated from her stomach and expanded out along her ribs.

It was too much. She was dying. One more hack or cut and her life was over. Then she saw it, the blade poised to deliver the final stroke headed towards the left side of her chest in a perfect, lethal arc. Following the knife with blurred vision, Carin made her peace with God.

A furious, agonized roar vibrated the air. Had she been screaming? Her burning, scratchy throat felt raw enough. Suddenly there were no more hands pulling her arms from the sockets. No more fists striking. No more blades ripping. Only the welcoming coolness of concrete under her body. No, the coolness wasn’t welcome. She didn’t want to die. That was the sole purpose of the last ten years of her life—to prevent the very thing that had come for her tonight. Damned son-of-a-bitch, Death.

The last thing she saw was Bix’s bare hands ripping Fang Boy’s throat out while a blond giant gutted another of the creeps who’d been gutting her. God was so cool. He’d sent her two avenging angels—Bix, dark as sin and hard as stone, and the other was just as tall and powerful, but blond and so beautiful it almost hurt to look at him.

She wanted to shout to the bad guys, wanted to yell, “That’s what you get, you punks.” But the blackness came too swiftly, giving her no time to form the words.

This week’s participating authors:
Anya Bast
Eliza Gayle
Juliana Stone
Michelle Pillow
Lauren Dane
Moira Rogers
TJ Michaels
Jody Wallace
Ashley Ladd
Kelly Maher
Shelli Stevens
Shelley Munro
Mandy Roth
Mark Henry
Savannah Foley

Hope over to the Rave Happy Hour (Michelle Pillow and Mandy Roth) blog for a candid and frank discussion on the merits of Lt. Uhura’s boots. Seriously!

This week’s theme is emotional scenes, whether happy, sad, angry or whatever. I chose a scene from EGYPTIAN VOYAGE where the heroine is scared to death.

Read on and see why…

Be sure to visit all the other fab authors via the links after this excerpt. Enjoy!

EXCERPT from EGYPTIAN VOYAGE
By TJ Michaels, Copyright 2007
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Available in trade paperback or eBook

‘Oh, no, Rahn. Rahn, don’t you dare die, damn it,’ Chrys ordered along the bond with their spirit guides, knowing they would both send her thoughts and feelings along to Rahn the same way they sped his current state to her. He was there, but just barely hanging on to the edge of consciousness. But based on Mahpiya’s slight sighs of relief, it was more than there had been when she’d reached out to him mere moments ago.

Chrys burst through the front door, dropping her shoes and purse in the foyer. A quick stop in the kitchen for the first-aid kit, and she was off again, following Adonei’s specific directions through the apartment. She knew exactly where to find him—on the master bathroom floor, bare-chested in a pool of his own blood. The tile was so slick with it, she almost skidded as she sped over the threshold. Dropping to her knees, the first-aid kit landed next to his too-still body with a loud clank. The gash in his side bled profusely. Afraid to move him, but knowing she must, Chrys called to the spirit guides waiting to aid her.

*Adonei, lend me your strength,* she grunted, trying to roll Rahn over on her own.

The lion’s brute strength rushed into her muscles, filling them with supernatural might, heightening not only her own strength, but all of her senses as well. The scent of Rahn’s blood and freshly showered skin and hair filled her nose and mouth. The sound of his shallow, barely there breathing spilled over her and filled her with an urgency mixed with a strange dose of melancholy.

She pushed it away and focused on the task at hand.

Now able to easily maneuver the dead weight of Rahn’s densely muscled body, Chrys gently rolled him to one side and packed the wound with clean linen to staunch the flow of thick, hot, blood. His lids fluttered, but he didn’t make a sound.

‘Mahpiya, can you nudge him closer to consciousness?’

Chrys knew they had to pull him back to this side of the spiritual plane so he could call Mah. Rahn had to request her help. It was against the spiritual laws for a spirit guide to aid without being asked. They could not impose their will on their charges. But if they didn’t do something fast, Rahn would be lost to them. He’d die.

Leaning forward, speaking directly into his ear, Chrys pleaded for him to call to Mahpiya. To ask for her aid, even if he asked with his mind and not his mouth. Rahn’s eyes opened for a moment.

“Mah. Help. Please.” The words were barely a whisper, but she heard them all the same. The fear that had been riding her released the bands around her heart and allowed it to beat again. Mahpiya’s silent relieved response flooded the bond. Rahn would be all right.

Mahpiya disappeared all together from Chrys’ consciousness and she knew the lioness focused all her healing energies on Rahn. It was hard work mending flesh and replenishing blood, even for a spirit guide. But she’d saved his life once before. Now she would do it again.

But now Chrys was flat-out pissed off. Someone had done this to her mate. Someone had tried to take Rahn away from her.

Grabbing one of the thick bath sheets off the rack, Chrys covered up Rahn’s bloody body and left the bathroom. Not bothering to wipe the blood off her feet or remove her ruined dress, she flew for the nightstand across the huge bedroom. Almost as an afterthought, she spoke to Adonei.

‘Guard the apartment, will ya, boy?’

The moment the words left her lips, Adonei’s hackles rose. A deep menacing growl rumbled in his chest as his stance took on one of attack, gaze fixed on a point behind her. Chrys went still.

Unease snaked its way down her spine, and the nerves along the bottom of her stomach danced in time with Adonei’s growling. But she wasn’t afraid. The strength of her spirit guide still flowed like fire through her entire being. Whatever, whoever it was, bring it on.

She turned, ready to drop into a fighting stance if need be.

“Eden, what the hell are you doing in here?” she demanded. Unsure of his intentions, Chrys instinctively calculated the difference in their body weight and the moves required to take him down fast. He looked slightly crazed, but as soon as the expression appeared, it was gone again.

“Chrysalyn, your dress, what happened? You’re covered with blood.”

Now he appeared genuinely alarmed. Adonei wasn’t buying it, but her man needed help and she didn’t have time to deal with this right now. A faint groan caught her attention. Rahn. Heading toward the phone, she tossed the words over her shoulder in a rush.

“Rahn was attacked. He needs a doctor.”

“Really? Here?” he gasped. “Go to your friend. I’ll get the surgeon and call the local emergency.” And Eden was flipping open his cell phone on the way out the door.

Back in the bathroom, she held Rahn’s hand, stroked his beautiful fingers and ignored her tears as they splashed on the palm clasped gently in her own.

In mere minutes, Eden was back and the apartment became a hive of frenzied, but calm, activity as the ship’s surgeon came in and tried to extract her from Rahn’s side. Captain Laurens hauled her out of the bathroom, explaining how both her and Eden’s fast thinking had saved her mate. Rahn was placed on a stretcher, covered with blankets and gently lifted from the cold tiled floor. All the while, the ship’s doctors, along with the Grecian medics, marveled over the fact he was still alive.

Jaci Burton
Eliza Gayle
Michelle Pillow
Mandy Roth
Juliana Stone
Lacey Savage
McKenna Jeffries
Moira Rogers
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Sasha White
Ashley Ladd
Victoria Janssen
Shelli Stevens
Shelley Munro
Lauren Dane
Beth Kery
Leah Braemel

Over at the Raven Happy Hour! Authors, Michelle Pillow and Mandy Roth (aka The Shoe Maven) are hosting a ha-yuge contest this month – The Raven Halloween Hunt! I’m a bit late advertising but here’s the info:

There’s a ridiculous number of prizes. Be sure to join in the fun. Can’t win if you don’t play.

Also, I’ll be blogging regularly over at The Raven along with a slew of awesome authors. I’m up on the 4th Tuesday of each month so be sure to stop by.

This week’s theme is holidays. I just LOVE the fall holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, Winter Solstice, New Years. *happy sigh* Be sure to visit all the other fab authors via the links after the excerpts. Enjoy!

Gift Wrap Optional is the story of Melaniece and Michael, two lovers who’d had an opportunity to live happily ever after…until he decided to marry Melaniece’s best friend years ago. Now Michael is back and he’s decided that he is going to be Melaniece’s Christmas present, him…and his fangs.

EXCERPT from GIFT WRAP: OPTIONAL
By TJ Michaels, Copyright 2006
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Available in trade paperback or eBook

Melaniece Matthews muttered to herself, carefully navigating the icy winding road leading up to the high country.

“Man, what a weird dream. Michael, a vampire?” The same strange dream plagued her at least twice a week for the past six months. They’d started immediately after she’d returned from a short trip home to California. It had been so good to see her friends and family after being away for eight years. And beyond lovely to see Michael Bannon again—the man she’d always loved. And, sigh, the man who’d seen her as just a great friend. Instead of marrying her, he’d hooked up with someone else, a woman named Janna. The end result? Six years of hell on earth for him. And now he haunted her in her sleep.

While Melaniece could admit she’d thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with him after so many years, she sure as hell wasn’t going to admit he’d been on her mind ever since. Her dream crept around the edges of her mind. “What if he is a vampire?” she smirked to herself, a sarcastically evil grin plastered across her lips. “That would explain why he ripped my heart out by marrying Janna. There’d certainly been plenty of blood to go around.”

Peering through the cold, clear windshield, Melaniece grimaced as her thoughts turned to her favorite holiday. Instead of the usual elation about Christmas, she was assailed with a mix of emotions she couldn’t quite nail down. There was the thrill of spending time with her children after a whole year of separation, chased by a longing for intimate companionship so acute she found herself on the verge of tears. Then, right there at the back of her mind was an elusive sense of naughty anticipation. But for what? A good lay? Not likely. She had no prospects and no interest in hunting for any. Michael’s handsome face popped into her head complete with fangs and a roguish grin, just like in her dream. Damn, she could practically feel the gorgeous, redheaded hunk making love with her as his incisors rasped over her skin. Yep, right there on the big sheepskin rug in front of the fireplace. Perfect spot.

“Hah, right!” she laughed with an unmistakable snort and waved the image away. But her breathing quickened in spite of a refusal to acknowledge the fine-assed man with fangs dancing around in her head. Give it a minute and her pulse would return to normal, right? Woo, she needed to turn off the heat. In spite of the freezing cold, the car was hot as hell. After a quick glance down at the console, she rolled her eyes up to the roof of the car. The damned heat wasn’t even turned on!

“Good grief, I’m hopeless,” she quietly grumbled. And it was all her dream man’s fault. Key word—dream. First off, she’d long given up hope in that quarter. Second, there was no such thing as vampires. So Michael was single again. Big deal. They’d had a great time reuniting in California six months ago. Who cared? None of it meant he wanted her now any more than he had eight years before.

With the car packed full of wrapped packages and luggage, Melaniece focused on the upcoming holiday. A glimpse at the pile of boxes in the backseat brought a small smile as she reminded herself this was a season to give generously to those you loved…and those who loved you back. And boy was she prepared to do just that.

Her children had spent the past year in an exchange program teaching English in Japan. It was amazingly expensive to live on the exotic little island. With most of their meager salaries going toward rent, groceries and train fare, the two had gone without some conveniences. When they returned to Minato-ku, a suburb of Tokyo, they’d sure as hell take lots of top-of-the-line goodies with them. Nothing but the best for her kids.

Christmas Day was fast approaching. She looked into the rearview mirror and spoke sharply to the woman reflected in the narrow glass.

“Okay you,” she said to herself. “No more goofy dreams, no more wasting time mooning over someone you can’t have and no more vampire nonsense. It’s Christmas and you’re gonna accept whatever Santa decides to give you. Got it?”

Got it. She popped a classic holiday CD into the player and hummed along with “Santa Baby”. With genuine laughter, Melaniece let Nat King Cole chase away her blues as she headed up the highway to her vacation home to meet her family. Up there among the snow-capped peaks, the long-toothed boogeyman was not allowed, no matter how yummy he looked in her sleep, damn it.

*****

The sun had just dipped below the mountain peaks when Melaniece pulled into the garage. Snow had begun falling in fat, wet flakes and she was relieved to see a big, black SUV covered with a fresh dusting of the white stuff parked on the other side of the wide garage. She slammed her car into park thinking now was a good time to do a funky little happy dance—her children, Denise and Melvin, were already here.

The second she shut off the engine and popped the trunk, an excited and very loud female came hurtling out the door. A blur of what looked like a white sweatshirt covered with red Japanese kanji symbols and a pair of black pants practically tackled her before she’d cleared the car door.

“Hi, Mom!” Denise screeched.

Melaniece’s heart melted and a big grin tipped up the sides of her mouth. Awww, it was so nice to be loved by one’s children.

“Hi, sweet pea! It’s so good to see you. Where’s your brother?” Melaniece asked, trying to peek over her daughter’s shoulder toward the open door leading into the house.

“I’m right here, Mom. How are you?” Melvin asked cheerfully. Long jean-clad legs carried him out to the garage and to Melaniece’s side. Six-feet-two inches of slender muscular male wrapped his arms around both sister and mom, engulfing them in a warm group hug.

Melaniece stepped back and grinned widely at her “babies”. At eighteen and twenty years old, they were mirror images of herself, with the exception of their dwarfing her modest five-feet-four inches. Long, dark locs covered their heads, apple pie cheeks sported dimples and they both flashed perfect, bright smiles. Their cocoa-colored skin and strong physiques were rounded out by stellar personalities. Beautiful and handsome described them to a tee.

Melaniece stepped back and shook her head in disbelief at Melvin. “Boy, are you ever gonna stop growing? I know you’ve grown at least a few good inches since I last saw you. And so good-looking, too! You know you get that from your mama, right?” she quipped. And there it was—the blush only a teasing mom could bring about in a grown son. It bloomed in his cheeks, turning his cocoa-colored skin a shade more reminiscent of a caramel-covered apple!

“And you should see all the girls that chase after him! And once I caught him and the neighbor…” Denise chimed in, ever the older sister.

“Mom!” Melvin implored.

“Okay, enough teasing your brother,” Melaniece chuckled, feeling happier than she had in…well, since her trip home to Michael, er, California. But she wouldn’t dwell on that. Or her goofy dream.

“Help me with my stuff?” Moving toward the already open trunk of her car, she turned to grab whatever was closest at hand and began to fill the arms of both Denise and Melvin with their Christmas gifts.

“Good lord, woman! What is all this?” Melvin asked, feigning a gasp under the weight of a particularly hefty box.

Melaniece didn’t answer, just smiled and handed over package after package until both their arms were loaded. Before she could reach for another one, Melvin said, “Go on in and relax. We’ll bring this stuff in. Dinner is already prepared.”

Melaniece felt her stomach tighten and rumble. Gosh, with all the packing, the long drive up, and preoccupation with her dreams—not to mention the constant low-grade arousal because of them—she’d completely forgotten about breakfast and lunch. Well, her stomach made it clear it was feeling neglected and the loud rumble was heard by all.

An aroma hit her nose the second she stepped over the threshold into the house. Shrimp, tomatoes, garlic…Old Bay Seasoning?

“Wooo! I smell it,” she cried happily. “Cajun food! Oh yeah! Uh-huh!” An awful rendition of the Electric Slide dance carried her on inside. She headed directly to the kitchen, not the least bit offended when her kids’ chuckles followed her. Yep, this was going to be one heck of a Christmas!

*****

With dinner done and dishes cleared, Denise and Melvin decorated the seven-and-a-half-foot real pine Christmas tree they’d picked up in town earlier. An overstuffed Melaniece slid onto the floor in front of the fireplace and watched them at play. Her fingers sank into the thick pile of the sheepskin rug as she lay on her back and moaned with a lopsided smile plastered on her face. Dinner had been fabulous. Denise had made Shrimp Creole with Dirty Rice and Melvin had whipped up a peach cobbler made with homemade butter crust. Oh god, she was so full, all she could do was lie there, soak in the warmth of the fire and hope she didn’t explode. But hell, she’d die fat and happy.

When the doorbell sounded, she didn’t move from her warm spot on the floor. Besides, she had a good idea who it was and secretly wished the cockeyed nosy neighbor would just leave her customary Christmas cookies on the porch and leave.

“Get that, will you Denny?” Melaniece drawled sleepily, eyes half-closed. The soft footfalls of her daughter’s bare feet, the quiet click of the deadbolt and easy swish of the front door opening reached her ears. She waited to hear Denise’s “thank you for the gift, Mrs. Orley”. A few moments passed but the neighbor wasn’t calling out her customary holiday greeting, nor was Denise giving her usual Merry Christmas to whoever was at the door.

She definitely knew something was going on when the little hairs on the back of her neck joined her stomach in an out-of-the-blue spastic butterfly dance. Melaniece cracked open one eye and looked toward the door.

Two large suitcases sat in the middle of her now snow-covered foyer floor and Denise, who was doing a fabulous job of completely ignoring her, thus avoiding her stare of doom, helped a bundled, but familiar-looking, form out of a thick parka.

Melaniece glanced over at her son and froze. If the boy wanted her to believe nothing was out of the ordinary, his ear-splitting grin pretty much gave him away. But whatever it was, he wasn’t telling.

She watched layers of clothing fall away from the person. A jacket, sweater, snow pants and boots had been hiding a wide, solid-looking back, thick muscular thighs and an ass that couldn’t possibly belong to a mere mortal. Successfully swallowing the lump growing in her throat, Melaniece sat up, both mouth and eyes wide. Oh, lord! Had the kids ordered her a stripper? Woo, what a hunk!

The hunk turned to face her and snatched a knit cap off his disheveled head to reveal tastefully cut auburn hair, startling green eyes and sinfully full lips.

“Holy. Shit,” Melaniece whispered.

Michael Bannon walked into her living room, eyeing her like the cat who’d swallowed the canary…or in this case, the partridge in the pear tree.

Enjoy snippets from these awesomely fantabulous authors!

Michelle Pillow
Mandy Roth
Anya Bast
Lacey Savage
Jaci Burton
McKenna Jeffries
Moira Rogers
TJ Michaels
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Jody Wallace
Ashley Ladd
Shelli Stevens
Shelley Munro

I am loving Snippet Saturday! 18 AUTHORS PARTICIPATED THIS WEEKEND!

This week’s theme is ‘Characters in Danger’. Check it out… Oh, and don’t forget to hop over to the other fab authors posting snippets and let them know you’re checking it out. The list is at the bottom of this post.

In this particular excerpt, our heroine is on the verge of getting the goods on a certain bad guy only to end up in quite a pickle. This book received FOUR STARS from Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine (RT).

An Excerpt From: PRIMED TO POUNCE
Copyright © TJ MICHAELS, 2006
All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

Delaine walked right through the front door, her long cloak hiding the jacket and black tactical gear. She headed straight for her office, locked the door and did a little creative hacking. In minutes she’d bypassed the main security camera program and fed the digital photos she wanted the security guards to see into the system that controlled all the camera links. The program would only run for ten minutes, which was more than enough time to get into a restricted elevator unseen.

Her badge and digital key worked perfectly, just like before, and in moments she was speeding down to The Vault. Before the doors opened, she checked the guns in the holsters under her jacket, a lethal black bowie knife tucked in her boot and the homing device hidden behind her ear.

She knew exactly which lab she needed to break into, having explored all the tunnels over the last few weeks. Every tunnel led to a legitimate research and development lab, except for the two tunnels on the far right. Both these labs were always locked. The first, which she’d successfully broken into, appeared to be scrubbed clean after every use. Whoever had been using it left no evidence of what they were doing in there. She’d found no dust, no residue. Not even a fingerprint. The second tunnel led to an identical lab she hadn’t been in yet. It was larger and had another door near the back. And she headed straight to it.

She encountered no one as she slipped her gloves on and picked the lock. Once inside, she eased the door closed and slid the deadbolt home. A quick sweep of this front room found it clean but not spotless. There were a couple of used vials, a pair of tweezers and even a small dissolution test kit. On one of the metal tables she found a small bit of some kind of pink powder. Delaine put a sample in a small glass vial, careful not to inhale or get it anywhere on her skin or clothes. Sealed and secured in a plastic baggie, she tucked it inside her inner jacket pocket and made her way to the door at the back of the room.

Closing the door softly behind her, she threw the deadbolt and stepped fully into the room. Her gut promptly twisted. This room was soundproof and would prevent her from hearing anyone approach. She’d have to work fast. She passed by the lab equipment, three doors that she assumed were closets for storage, along with file cabinets, and went directly to a wide-screen monitor with playback equipment hooked up to it. The playback cables were connected to three video cameras arranged in front of small neatly made beds, and a medical table with stirrups on one end.

Delaine went to the digital video camera. There was still a tape inside. She popped it into the playback unit and Baker’s face immediately came up on the screen. The date and time at the bottom of the screen was six-thirty yesterday morning.

Baker moved away from the screen and a blonde woman Delaine had seen a couple of times in the lunchroom sat on one of the beds naked. Her arms were crossed over her breasts, her legs clenched tightly and her head down. She looked up at Baker through lowered lashes and appeared decidedly uncomfortable. But this blonde wasn’t the one she’d seen in her vision.

In the video, he approached the woman with a little pink tablet balanced on the end of his finger. Delaine’s hand immediately felt for the vial inside her jacket, wondering if the residue inside was from the same stuff. Baker placed the tablet under the girl’s tongue and the timer on the video started counting.

At thirty seconds, the girl still sat on the edge of the bed, but her eyes were now wide and frightened. Her hands dropped to her breasts and she watched her hands massage and pull on them as if she couldn’t believe what she was doing to herself.

At a full minute, the woman writhed on the bed, pumping her hips at something that wasn’t there. Her legs fell open and she ground down into the mattress. As she panted and moaned, her eyes followed Baker’s every movement.

At two minutes, she wept and begged Baker to take her. The perverted bastard obliged.

Delaine watched the tape and almost gagged when he approached the bed with his skinny hard cock poking out of the fly of his pants. He lay down on top of the woman and her legs immediately wrapped around his hips. The woman was like a wild animal under him and screamed, yelled and clawed at his back while he pumped into her body with his pants, shoes and shirt still on. The woman came on a tormented scream. Then Baker flipped her over, told her to get up on her hands and knees and took her from behind. She screamed as she came again.

No wonder the walls were soundproof. Baker had plowed his blonde guinea pig for fifteen minutes and she’d come several times. When he was done, she still writhed and rolled around on the bed. Then Sarah Ann came into the picture. Before the blonde collapsed from exhaustion, she’d come almost non-stop, compliments of Sarah Ann and a dildo.

Sapa roared loud and long in her mind. The lioness had obviously been trying to warn her about something, but she’d been so absorbed in the disgusting video, she hadn’t been paying attention. Delaine snapped out of her incredulity at the turn of a key in the lock. Shit! She snatched the tape out of the playback unit, stuffed it into her pocket and moved silently to the first closet door. Hell, it was locked and there was no way she’d have time to pick it. On to the second door. Locked. Relief coursed through her when the third door opened and closed smoothly just before Baker stepped into the room.

‘Sapa, I need a little help with my hearing,’ Delaine called to her spirit guide. The great hunter’s keen senses flowed through the bond and manifested inside Delaine’s body. Through the door, she heard everything going on in the lab as if she were sitting right there. Crouched in the dark, she listened while Baker fussed at Sarah Ann for dead-bolting the doors and leaving the lights on.

Ready to take the bastard down, she silently unsnapped the secure strap on her holster to slide her gun free. Delaine had all the proof she needed.

A wicked, sharp knife pressed against her throat from behind. She didn’t move a hair further.

Use the links below to visit:

Anya Bast
Jaci Burton
Eliza Gayle
Michelle Pillow
Mandy Roth
Juliana Stone
Lacey Savage
McKenna Jeffries
Moira Rogers
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Kelly Maher
Sasha White
Ashley Ladd
Victoria Janssen
Shelli Stevens
Shelley Munro
Lauren Dane